The Spirit #2 [Spoilers]

I've always liked the Spirit, original Eisner version; I remember sitting in the car as a kid, reading black-and-white reprints of Spirit stories. (I don't remember where they came from, but I do remember the story about the little toy machine gun very clearly.) Years later I bought a number of Spirit reprints when they became available. (Presumably I've got them in a longbox somewhere.) So while I'm no expert, possibly not even really a fan, I've always liked the Spirit.

So--like everyone else--I had mixed feelings when this new version came out. Of course I bought it anyway. On the whole I've been pleasantly surprised. One of the great things about the old Spirit stories was the uniqueness of the characters, particularly the women; often in older books (Silver Age and beyond), female characters tend to be drawn all from the same template, not only visually but in terms of character and personality as well. This was never the case in The Spirit--you might not like the women he came in contact with, but you definitely remembered them.

This story features two: Ellen Dolan (the typical "good girl" and the Spirit's main recurring love interest) and P'Gell (one of his better villains).

I'm going to contradict myself here (with reference to the "definitely remembered them" thing) and say that I don't really recall much about the classic Ellen Dolan other than that she was Chief Dolan's daughter, the Spirit's kinda-sorta girlfriend, and not particularly interesting in and of herself. This seems to be changing in this title, which I count a good thing--in this story she's smart and has good research skills--potentially not only a romantic partner for the Spirit but someone who can actively help him when he needs it. (She also seems to have some annoying habits--"I really want you to try and cut down on the amount of red meat you [eat]"--which is all to the good.) This sort of change can only help Ellen's character and I'm actually looking forward to her next appearance.

P'Gell is also well done, for the most part, but I think it was a mistake to tell this particular story about her in her first appearance. Yes, the reader is told about her evil husband-killing past, but it has far less impact than her very sympathetic origin. Much more effective, I think, would have been to have had the classic P'Gell in a story or two first--the smart, seductive, self-centered, ciminial P'Gell who draws the Spirit to her in spite of himself. The woman who provides a direct contrast to Ellen Dolan, come to think of it (as is not the case in this story). After her character (from the Spirit's eye view) is established in this way, then give the sympathetic intro. Then it would have meant more. Now? P'Gell is simply not nearly as interesting a character when we know that about her right from the start. And it's not nearly as interesting a take on the Spirit, that he finds her alluring despite her badness, when you know that he knows what made her that way.